Floor covering



Jan. 18, 1938. w. B. COOPER 2,105,720

FLOOR COVERING Filed Jan. 26, .1937

Patented Jan. 18, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE noon COVERING setts Application January 28, 1937, Serial No. 122.45%

10 Claims.

This invention relates to pile floor coverings and particularly to an improvement in the construction of fabrics of that type, wherein the areas normally subjected to greatest wear are made more highly resistant to wear.

In use, certain areas of floor coverings are commonly subjected to more wear than other portions. Thus the borders of the rug or carpeting are usually subjected to more wear than 10 the body portions. Where imitation broadloom carpeting is made froin assembled strips of narrow carpeting, the seam produces a ridge which usually wears away more rapidly than the remainder of the carpet. It is the primary object of the present invention to increase the life of rugs and carpets and I have found that this may be accomplished at comparatively small cost by increasing the sturdiness of the rug at the borders, seams, or other 20 portions which are subjected to the greatest wear. In the preferred embodiment of my invention I attain this object by providing a more durable pile in those portions such as by employing a more serviceable yarn or by increasing 25 the count of pile tufts in those portions. However, as will appear, an increase in the strength or thickness of the warps and wefts of the backing fabric is also effective for my purpose.

These and further objects and advantages of 30 my invention will appear from a more .detailed description thereof in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of my invention, shown as incorporated into an Axminster rug;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view showing my invention as embodied in the seamed portions of assembled carpet strips, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modified form 40 of my invention as embodied in an Axminster rug.

In Fig. II have illustrated an Axminster rug I of any suitable weave, having a body portion 2, an end border portion 3 and a side or selvage border portion 4. The pile 5 of the main body portion 2 is composed of yarn of any suitable grade. weight, twist, etc. for a rug of the desired specifications. The border portions 3 and 4 are composed of pile tufts l and in accordance with my preferred embodiment, the yarn from which 50 the tufts I0 is made possesses greater wear resisting qualities than the yarn employed in the tufts 5. Thus, for example, the border tuft yarn may be a heavier yarn or it may have a different is blend of wool conducive to greater resistance to abrasion. On the other hand, it may be of the same weight and mix but may have more plies or a greater twist.

In weaving a rug of the Axminster type, the change in pile yarn from that used in the body portion 2 to that used in the border sections 3 5 and 4 can readily be accomplished when the tube frame spools are being wound. Thus for the selvage border portions 4, yarn of the special characteristics above noted is wound on the ends of the spools and threaded through the end 1 tubes in the tube frames. To weave the end border portions 3, the entire tube will be threaded with yarn of those characteristics.

In rugs of the Wilton type, the insertion of the special pile yards in the end and side border 15 sections can also be readily accomplished; Thus for the selvage border portions, the desired quality of yarn is carried as pile warp through the end interdental reed spaces, and to provide the end border sections 3, the stronger pile warp may be carried on a separate beam and raised out of the backing fabric by suitable jacquard mechanism.

As a modification of my invention I may employ the same yarn for the tufts l0 as is used for the tufts 5 and effect an increase in resistance to abrasion in the side and end' borders by employing a greater number of pile tufts per unit of area in those portions than in the body portion. By decreasing the fabric take-up at the. breast beam, the rows of pile in the end border sections 3 can readily be increased. Additional rows may be inserted in the side border portions 4 by suitably constructing and spacing the tuft inserting or raising mechanism depending upon the type of loom employed.

Of course, a still further increase in wearing qualities can be effected by combining an increase in pile tuft count with an enhancement in yarn grade as above described. 40

As a further modification the present invention contemplates that the enhanced wearing characteristics may be obtained by employing heavier warp and/or weft yarns or threads in the marginal portions of the backing fabric than in 5 the body portion thereof. Such a construction is shown in Fig. 3 wherein the tuft pile yarns 30 in the end and side border portions may or may not be of the same general weight or character as those in the main body portion 3!.

In the construction of Fig. 3 the end border section 33 is constituted of weft yarns 34 which are of heavier and preferably thicker character than the weft yarns 35 which extend through the body portion of the rug and likewise the warp yarns 38 along the side border 31 of the rug are of heavier and preferably thicker character than k the warp yarns 38 which go to make up the body portion of the rug. s

The effect is that the heavier warp and/or weft yarns of the marginal portions will impart to the border sections increased wearin qualities, partly by more closely compacting the pile tufts at those portions and thereby making them more highly resistant to wear.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated a portion oi carpeting constructed of assembled strips 20 and 2i secured together in any suitable manner such as by an adhesive tape or by stitching as indicated at 23. In manufacturing strips of carpeting so to be assembled, the pile tufts 22 and 23 at and adjacent the abutting edges are so constructed as to resist wear better than the tufts 20 and 2| of the remainder of the rug strips and such construction may be in accordance with any of the above described embodiments of my invention. The rug when sewn together by the stitching 23, and/or taping if desired, will be more resistant to wear at the seam portions than the common seamed rug having pile which is uniform throughout, with the result that the relatively greater amountof abrasion to which the seams are usually subjected will be withstood. and the entire rug will wear uniformly.

As a further modification of my invention, it may in some instances be desirable to affect a gradual transition from the lighter pile of the body portion to. the heavier pile of the border sections. This may readily be accomplished by threading the tube frames of Axminster looms or the reeds of Wilton looms with yarn which is graded in weight to .become progressively heavier as the borders are approached.

This application is a continuation in part of my prior application, Serial No. 743,996, filed September 14, 1934.

I claim: a

1. As an article of manufacture, a pile fabric floor covering comprising a backing fabric of warp and weft yarns and pile tuft yarns interwoven therewith to form an uninterrupted pile tread surface, certain areas of which surface are normally exposed to more wear than other areas, saidfirst-mentioned areas being provided with heavier yarns than said other areas so that the tread surface of said first-mentioned areas is more highly resistant to abrasive wear tending to shorten the pile, than the tread surface of said other areas, whereby to enhance the wearing qualities of said areas exposed to greatest wear.

2. As an article of manufacture, an imitation broadloom floor covering constructed of a plurality of strips of pile fabric each comprising a ,backing. fabric of warp and weft yarns and pile tuft yarns interwoven therewith, said strips being seamed together at their abutting edges to form an uninterrupted pile tread surface of substantial area, the areas in said surface extending immediately adjacent said seams being provided with heavier pile than the areas of said pile tread surface relatively: remote from said seams so that the areas of the tread surface adjacent said seams are more; highly resistant to abrasive wear tending. to shorten the pile than said remote areas thereof.

3. As an article of manufacture, a pile fabric floor covering comprising a backing fabric of warp and weft yarns and pile tuft yarns interwoven therewith to form an. uninterrupted pile tread surface composedv of a body portion and border areas outside said body portion, said border areas being provided with yarns that are heavier than the corresponding yarns of said body portion so that the tread surface of said border areas is more highly resistant to' abrasive. 5

wear tending to shorten the pile than the tread surface of said body portion, whereby to enhance the wearing qualities of said border areas.

. (i. As an article of manufacture, a pile fabric floor covering comprising a backing fabric of warp and weft yarns and pile tuft yarns interwoven therewith to form an uninterrupted pile tread surfacecomposed of a body portion and border areas outside said body portion, said border areas being provided with pile tufts that are stronger than the pile tufts in said body portion so that the border areas are more highly resistant to abrasive wear tending to shorten the pile than the body portion, whereby to enhance the wearing quality of said border areas.

5. As an article of manufacture, a pile fabric floor covering comprising a backingfabric of warp and weft yarns and pile tuft yarns interwoven therewith to form an uninterrupted pile tread surface composed of a body portion, and

'border areas outside said body portion, said border areas being provided with pile tufts that are heavier than the pile tufts in said body portion so that the border areas are more highly resistant to abrasive wearttending to shorten the pile than the body portion, and with the pile intermediate said body portion and said border areas gradually increasing in weight from the body portion to the border areas.

6. As an article of manufacture, a pile fabric floor covering having body and side and end border sections all of which are provided with a pile tread surface formed of tuft pile yarns interwoven with a backing fabric of warp and weft yarns, the warp yarns of the side border sections beingof heavier character than the warp yarns of the body portion of the rug and the weft yarns of .the and border sections being of heavier or larger character than the weft yarns in the body portion. so that the fabric constituting the intersection of the side and end border sections will have an increased thickness.

7. As an article of manufacture, a pile fabric floor covering having body and side and end border sections all of which are provided with a pile tread surface formed of tuft pile yarns interwoven with a backing fabric of warp and weft yarns, the yarns of the side border sections being-of heavier character than the yarns of the body portion of the rug and the yarns of the end border sections being heavier or larger in character than the yarns of the body portion so that both the side and end sections of the rug will be provided with a backing of increased or heavier yarn structure where the side and end sections meet.

8. As an article of manufacture, a floor covering having a body portion and side and end border sections, both constituted as pile tufts interwoven with a backing fabric of warp and weft yarns, the yarns of the border sections of said backing fabric being thicker than the corresponding yams of 'the body portion thereof. thereby providing a more tightly binding support for the border pile tufts to hold the said border tufts more firmly 7 erect than the body portion pile tufts, whereby to render the border tufts more resistant to wear than the body pile tufts.

9. As an article of manufacture, a floor covering comprising tuft pile yarns, warp yarns and I weft yarns, the warp yarns in the side body of the fabric being larger than the warp yarns in the body of the fabric, and the weft yarns in the end portion of the fabric being larger than the weft yarns in the body of the fabric, and binder warp yarns for binding the weft yarns in place.

10. As an article of manufacture, a pile fabric floor covering comprising a backing fabric of warp and-weft yarns and pile tuft yarns interwoven therewith to form an uninterrupted pile tread surface composed of a body portion and border areas outside said body portion, said pearance between the border areas and the body 10 portion.

WELLESLEY B. COOPER. 

